Held Down
by emeraldeyes84
Summary: The darkness that surrounds us cannot hurt us. It is the darkness in your own mind you should fear." Miranda has the potential for greatness or for destruction, which path will she take? How will her new found friends help her along? Please Review!
1. Prologue: Keep Running

She ran into the inky blackness around her, knowing that she couldn't stop. They were behind her, she could practically feel their breath on her neck. She just kept running. The only sound that could be heard, other than the rapid shouts from her pursuers were her boots pounding against the pavement.   
  
"Thump the mutie! Smear its ass in the dirt!" One of her belligerent attackers bellowed. She knew that the people around here heard that, she knew they had, but no one would come. She knew that they would rather let her get smashed into a bloody pulp than help. Better her filthy blood on the ground than on their hands.  
  
Her face was a mask of eerie calm, but her mind was running a mile a minute. Thoughts in her head ranged from, 'Just keep breathing' to the frantic, 'This is the way I'm going to die, no one will help me and they are just gonna them kill me' to the absurd, 'Those fuckers are gonna smash up my discman and cds' and 'If I'm gonna do this in the future, I've got to stop smoking.' The last of which she knew wasn't true because she didn't smoke. She tried so desperately to stop thinking and just keep her steady pace running. If she could just outlast them, not outrun them, she would be okay.   
  
But the men just seemed to be getting closer, "We're gonna get you, you fucking freak!" She dared not look back, she didn't want to know how close she was to getting her head smashed in.   
  
As hard as it was, she sped up just slightly and clutched her backpack closer to her and kept going. She scanned the area in front of her and realized that there was an alleyway leading off to the right, but the last thing she needed was a dead end. Her best bet was to stay on the main road and hopefully she would soon run into some humane people or at least she could slip away unnoticed in a crowd.   
  
She became angry because she didn't understand why this street was so empty. This place wasn't a 'true' residential area, it had places people would go to…like warehouses. She sighed when she realized that she had run, in her confusion, to a street that seemed to be lined with warehouses.  
  
"Oh well," she whispered to herself, "Just keep running Miranda, and you'll be okay." She became aware of her long hooded trench coat whipping around her as a strong wind out of no where pulled it out behind her. She didn't have time to think about it and continued to run. 


	2. Ch 1: Something Different

"What a waste," Rogue muttered as she followed her dejected team out of the now empty warehouse. The Professor had keyed them in on the Acolytes activity down in one of theses warehouses and they had just been too slow on the uptake. By the time they reached the place, it had been emptied and all that remained was their smell. Or at least that's what Logan said.   
  
Scott was seething, he had never been more embarrassed for his team than tonight. They didn't even get a chance to see the Acolytes. This was too disgusting for him to handle at the moment. He couldn't even take Jean's soft voice trying to console him, because all he could hear at the present moment was Kitty, Evan and Kurt laughing behind him.   
  
"What is so funny? This isn't something that we shouldn't take so lightly you three."  
  
Evan rolled his eyes, "Get off of it Scott, sometimes things just don't work out."  
  
"Yeah, and sorry that like, we won't let you rain on our parade." Kitty interjected, her arm wrapped around Kurt's neck.   
  
Kurt nodded his head and gestured towards Scott, "Yeah, that's him alright, our little black rain cloud." The three of them erupted in laughter and it was the last straw for Scott.   
  
He stalked over to them and barked, "We'll see how much you're laughing when we're in the danger room twice as long tomorrow. Maybe that will help you get your asses in gear quicker." He turned from them quickly and stomped off to Jean.   
  
Kurt rolled his eyes and stated, "It's like he's turning into Wolverine. No thank you on that, I'm fine with just one Danger Room Nazi."  
  
"You gotta problem with the way I run things Elf?" Logan had still been in the warehouse and had come upon them without being heard, something that he did quite well.   
  
Kurt shook his head and replied evenly, "Oh no Herr Logan, I love having my tail smeared into the ground."  
  
Kitty, who wasn't so suave delivering her sarcasm chimed in, "Yeah, I totally love being in the Danger Room with you. Nothing like eating shit in there all morning to make one feel alive." She giggled at her own cleverness.  
  
Logan rolled his eyes and went past them to Storm. She was talking to the Prof, letting him know that they had been too late. They were almost at the mouth of the alley when Wolverine finally picked up on what was happening in front of him in the street. He stopped dead in his tracks and ordered everyone to do the same.   
  
"What is it?" Ororo asked quietly.   
  
Logan held up his hand in response. He could hear the sounds of boots pounding pavement and three pairs of sneakers snaking up from behind. He could smell malevolence and a mixture of other emotions, too many to name. He listened more carefully and heard the cries of anti-mutantism. He growled low in his throat and cut his eyes over to her, "Trouble's coming. Hold your position, all of you. We don't move until we all know for sure what's coming down the street."  
  
Scott replied, "Maybe tonight won't be so much of a waste after all."  
  
Logan looked back at the young leader and replied, "Yeah, we might actually get to save a life."  
  
****  
  
Miranda was starting to worry. She had stitches in her side and she thought this was ironic. She had never before tired out after only running a couple of miles. She was finally approaching the alleyway and realized that there was a black van…looked like a hummer from where she was. She wondered if possibly she could get in it and lock them out. That might work. She knew that the people around here wouldn't just let these pricks destroy their property.   
  
"You're mine! I'm gonna use your head as an ashtray!"   
  
She picked up her speed again, she couldn't take the risk of the van being locked. Then she would be shit out of luck. She sucked in a lungful and kept running. She was about to pass the alleyway. She knew that she should keep her eyes forward, be aware of all that was going on, but something flickered in the alleyway and she glanced over.  
  
To her mild surprise, there stood around nine people. They were just standing there. In odd clothing no less. She kept her eyes on them and passed over each of their faces. No more time to waste on them, she had to keep….  
  
Out of nowhere, a baseball bat came down across her back, causing her to fall to her knees like a pile rocks. The hit had knocked all of her breath out of her and she fought desperately to continue her escape. She cursed herself for not keeping a sound track of the bastards behind her and seemingly, one had slipped away unnoticed by her and cut her off. She had been blindsided.   
  
She didn't get very far as another hit from the bat was brought up swiftly to her stomach. She heard something crack. She could taste blood in her mouth and rolled over on her blazing back. The asphalt burned beneath her and the night had turned into a canopy of bright flashing colors.   
  
This all happened in a matter of seconds as she was punched across the jaw line and two pairs of rough hands jerked her roughly to her feet and in the process disconnected her shoulder blades. Fire filled her veins and she screamed loudly, "FUCK!"  
  
Her eyes finally focused on the man standing in front of her, he was the one with the bat. She sucked air down as best she could and refused to speak. She wouldn't beg. She wouldn't give this filth that.   
  
The man in front of her arched his brows, "Oh, looks like little mutie here has a dirty mouth. Better clean you up." With that, he punched her in the stomach and upper-cutted her chin, causing her teeth to snap shut on the tip of her tongue. She grimaced as blood filled her mouth and looked through bleary eyes at her attacker. It would be so easy to use her powers, to flay this man like the gutless worm he was, but she didn't. She wouldn't stoop to his level. If she died, it would be something that would be written about that she had been defenseless.   
  
Her attacker got angry, "Don't have anything to say? Certainly did back there didn't you?"  
  
Miranda didn't respond and in the back of her head, she wondered where all those people were that she had seen. Had that been an illusion?  
  
Her attacker's face turned a ruddy red color, "Fine, you wanna play like that, then I can play." He back handed her and then punched her twice in the face and Miranda could feel the capillaries explode in her head, she knew two black eyes were going to show up. He then brought her head down and cracked it over his knee. Blood poured freely from her nose as the other two assailants pulled her back up.  
  
They were laughing at her as their leader stated, "Aww, aren't you a pretty little thing now." He reached forward and dipped his finger into the blood plastered onto her face and licked his finger. He smiled darkly at her, "Didn't think that a mutie's blood would taste so good. I wonder it you feel as good…." He kicked her feet out from under her and as if they knew what to do, the others pinned her to the ground. Through the searing pain in her head, it took her awhile to figure out what was coming next.   
  
Her attacker stood above her and started to unbuckle his jeans. Something acrid started to build up in Miranda's head. She started to struggle against her attackers and they started to laugh. The one above her advanced on her and kicked open her legs and pinned them apart with his feet.   
  
He smiled evilly at her, "Don't worry. This will be over before you know it and besides, this is as much 'human' you'll ever have 'in' you again."   
  
Miranda pulled at the other two men, only to remember that her arms had been dislocated and were useless at this point. She thrashed her body anyway she could and her mind was quickly approaching delirium. She was about to scream, but as she opened her mouth up, a guttural battle cry was given somewhere behind her.   
  
Her attackers suddenly released her and began to scream in horror. "She has friends!" One of them screamed, but that was all Miranda heard. And then, they were all gone and she was left alone, battered on the ground, staring up into the stars. Out of the corner of her eye, she was a flash of red brilliance and heard something that sounded distinctly like metal scraping against metal. There were so many sounds, but she couldn't crane her head upward to see what was happening. The wind blew all around her and she wondered when the weather had turned.   
  
The chaos was over a few moments later and suddenly a man stood over her with claws protruding from his hands. She blinked at him as they retracted into his hands as he knelt down beside her. He wore a mask and she couldn't see what he looked like. A moment later, he pulled the mask back to reveal a head of dark hair. She really couldn't tell much else, it was dark and she could feel herself losing self consciousness.   
  
Her voice was raw as she finally asked, "Did they steal my backpack?"  
  
The man looked utterly surprised, but turned to someone she couldn't see and yelled, "Elf, get her bag!"   
  
Before anything else could be said, Miranda drifted away into a welcoming black oblivion.   
  
****  
  
The group stood there stunned as they watched the girl run past them, her pursuers hot on her heels. When she had looked at each of them, they were filled with the innate knowledge that she was a mutant, it wafted off of her body in waves. Something else had drifted to each of them as she had passed by, but none of them could pin point it.   
  
Logan had been the first one out of his stupor and staggered out of the alleyway to find the girl getting her head cracked over one of those pricks knees. Again, he fell victim to statue. He was aware of what was happening but couldn't find it in him to move. Nor could any of his team mates either. They had all exited the alleyway and now stood silently in the street.   
  
They were all transfixed to what was happening, not really sure if it was real. Kurt and Kitty watched with their hands covering their mouths and Scott watched with his mouth slightly open. Ororo had tears glistening in her eyes and Evan just watched the ground in front of him. Jean seemed to be the only one frantically pacing, trying to move herself to help.   
  
Sirens were going off in Logan's head as he shouted in his head, 'Do something you dumb fuck! She's gonna die if you don't!' It finally clicked for him when he heard that prick say that….horrible, abomination to her.  
  
Wolverine let loose a horrible cry that he himself rarely heard and ran head on towards what was happening. That seemed to get them all moving as the rest soon followed. Not only were they going to save that girl, they were going to kick those bastards within an inch of their lives.   
  
"She's got friends!"  
  
"You got that right jackass!" Kitty snarled as she cart wheeled over to one that was trying to get away. She kicked him squarely in the jaw and Rogue soon joined her. Wolverine went straight past the two that had held her down and went for the ringleader. He unsheathed his claws and growled, "You wanna try that with someone your own size that can fight back? You'll be missing one important appendage in a moment shitface."   
  
Before he could sink his claws into the guy's hide, a blast of red hit the attacker squarely in his chest. He went flying back and Wolverine reached him and lifted him up and threw him into the nearest dumpster. He glanced back to see that Spyke had taken care of another one by staking him to the ground. His aunt was giving him a pretty good shock from above. He last turned to find that Kurt, Rogue and Kitty were still pummeling the other one. Finally, the two attackers fainted away and all was silent.   
  
It was then that they all realized that Jean was now standing somewhat off to the side of a mangled body. Logan shook himself free of his anger and went to the broken girl. She was still conscious. Her eyes stared unblinkingly up at him and he knew that she wasn't afraid. He knelt down to her and started to assess her wounds.   
  
"Did they steal my backpack?"   
  
Logan was so taken aback by this question that he almost jumped out of his skin. He quickly recovered and called out to Kurt, who happened to be standing closely to her bag. He told him to get it and by the time he turned back to her, she had passed out.   
  
He muttered, "Probably easier this way." He then slowly began to feel her body for breaks and look for damages.   
  
"Logan, is she alright?" Jean asked.   
  
"Storm, go get the van. Tell Chuck, we're bringing home a new one." 


	3. Ch 2: Trial Run

"Here's her bag," Kurt said as he joined the rest of his team. They were gathered around Logan and the girl. Kurt couldn't tell what the girl looked like; there was too much blood and her hair was strewn across her face. That, and there happened to be Herr Logan hovering over her.   
  
"Logan?" Jean asked again. Kurt and the rest watched as Logan placed firm but gentle touches all over her body trying to find breaks.   
  
"She seems alright," Wolverine muttered, more to himself than to the others. She might have some cracked ribs and deep bruising on her abdomen, but that was something that she could recover from. He wouldn't know for sure until he got her back to the Institute. He continued his search up to her shoulder blades. When his hands traced over them, he grimaced inwardly. Those guys really did a number on her, both arms were dislocated. Logan looked over his shoulder to see that Storm had pulled up with the van.   
  
"Shades," he began as he got to his feet, lifting the girl with him, "Hold her up."  
  
Scott came over and took her by the waist. Her head lolled forward and Scott did his best to brace her body against his so she wouldn't be as heavy. She was like dead weight and he didn't know how long he would be able to hold her up. He shifted her again as Logan grabbed her arm firmly.   
  
"Keep a grip on her," he ordered as he set his hands on her shoulder blade.  
  
"Relax, I'm not gonna drop her," Scott bristled, even though he knew that he had just been thinking that moments before.   
  
Logan ignored the budding leader and swiftly popped the girl's arm back into joint. As Logan suspected, the girl recoiled from him and blanched against Scott as she released a small pained yelp. Soon after, she went limp again. Logan repeated the same thing to her other arm to meet much of the same response.   
  
"Logan," Storm called from the van, "we need to get going. She needs medical attention and Hank is getting the med room ready for her."  
  
Scott called out, "Everyone in the van, double time it!" He then picked the girl up and followed them there.   
  
Once in the van, Scott handed the girl off to Logan. When everyone was seated, Ororo screeched away. Logan repositioned the broken girl in his arms and carefully brushed her hair out of her face It still was a mess of blood. Her looked over her face and began to notice the damage that had been done. He growled low in his throat.  
  
"How does she look?" Rogue asked as she leaned forward to look over Logan's shoulder.  
  
"Looks like she's gonna have two shiners and her nose is broken," he trailed off as he noticed a sluggish stream of blood escape from the corner of her mouth. Her lips were busted and bleeding as well. "Look through that bag, see if you can find any id."   
  
Evan and Kurt started to look through her stuff. Evan flipped through a cd booklet while Kurt looked through another set of clothes and searched the compartments of the bag. He found batteries, a discman, gum, tampons (which thoroughly embarrassed Kurt) fifty dollars in cash, and an extra set of clothing, but no id.   
  
"No such luck, Herr Logan." Kurt sighed as he stuffed her belongings back into her bag.  
  
"Yeah," Evan added, "but she does have a slammin' collection of cds. She's got good taste in music."   
  
The van sighed in annoyance at Evan as they pulled into the Institute. As Logan got out of the van, he was pleasantly surprised to see that the two black eyes that had been blooming had faded away and her lips had healed back to normal. Much like what would have happened if he had received those blows.   
  
"I'll be damned," Logan mused as he carried the girl up the entrance way and into the Institute. He was met by the Professor and Hank. While the kids, led by Ororo, went off to get ready for bed, Logan took the girl with Hank and Charles to the med room.  
  
***  
  
Miranda started to come back slowly, voices echoing in her head. She knew better than to act like she was awake. She wanted to figure out where she was before she did that. She remembered asking where her backpack was. She remembered a face, wolf-like and rigid. Now she lay perfectly still and listened to what was being talked about around her.  
  
"She's lucky that you all were there. I don't think that even with her regenerative powers she would have survived much more of that." a voice said, sounding much of that of a doctor or a scholar.   
  
"Yeah, well, we should have reacted a lot faster than we did. She shouldn't have even had any cracked ribs or bruises." This gruff voice sounded somewhat familiar. She assumed it was the wolf-man.   
  
There was another voice, one that Miranda honed in on immediately. The voice was calm and soothing, and even as she laid there, acting like she was asleep, she felt an immense sense of peace, having him there, "Logan, what is done is done. She will not suffer major damage and we do not know what her powers extend to. She could have quite possibly sent to you the mental waves that caused you all to falter. Our questions will soon be answered."  
  
"How you figure?" the wolfish voice asked.  
  
"Because, I do believe that she is awake."   
  
The room grew quiet and Miranda couldn't help but smile. She opened her eyes and sat up, only to have all the blood rush from her head. She groaned and cradled her head in her hands. She gingerly rubbed her eyes, which still hurt and touched her nose. That was still healing. At least her tongue had healed along with her arms. She remembered something with the wolf-man snapping her arms back into joint. She grimaced at the sting in her still healing nose and said, "Man, I feel like I just got hit in the face with a brick."   
  
She finally took the chance to glance at the people in the room with her. First, her eyes were drawn to a huge blue and furry man wearing a lab coat and spectacles. She nodded to him and them went along her way with the man in the wheel chair. Even as she looked at him, she could tell that he was kind and could calm the blood of the most tumultuous person. She smiled briefly at him and then her eyes fell on the wolf-man. He looked different. He had changed out of that goofy outfit and had on a black t-shirt and some tight well worn jeans. His black hair flipped out oddly, like in the shape of wings, but Miranda had seen worse. Even the big blue guy didn't phase her all that much.   
  
Something began to tickle the back of her head and instinctively she looked back at the man in the wheel chair. She smiled sardonically at him and tapped her temple. "You sure you want in there so soon. And haven't you heard of knocking first?"  
  
His face never revealed anything to her, but he finally decided to talk, "Good morning. I am Professor Charles Xavier and last night, some of my associates came across you when you needed help."   
  
"Very nice to meet you, Professor." Miranda replied dryly. In all her years, she knew it best to be wary of people until you could feel them out. She couldn't tell about this lot just yet. Her eyes drifted over to the blue one. "And I'm guessing you'd be my good doctor?"  
  
He blinked at her and Miranda could tell that he didn't expect her to take him so naturally as he replied, "Why yes, I am. But I have to say, you didn't need much assistance from me. I'm Dr. Hank McCoy. You may call me Hank."   
  
Miranda nodded and finally asked, "And you?" She looked at the wolf-man expectantly, "What should I call you? Wolf-man?"  
  
The man scowled at her darkly, "I'm not going you my name until I know yours."  
  
From the look on the professor's face, Miranda could tell that he disapproved of the wolf-man's attitude. But nonetheless, she smiled incredulously at him and replied, "I'm Miranda. You can call me Randy or Randa."   
  
The man snorted and crossed his arms over his chest, "I'm Logan, but you can call me Mr. Logan or Wolverine."   
  
Miranda laughed inwardly. This guy could be a lot of fun to mess with. Once again, she felt something tickling the back of her mind. She shook her head and said, "You are the persistent one aren't you Professor?"  
  
Charles smiled at her, "Please rest assured Miranda, I was only picking up what you just projected. I was picking up on your laughter."  
Miranda chose to ignore the scowl Mr. Logan shot her and replied, "Oh. Cool beans and collard greens."  
  
Hank arched his brows at her. Miranda shrugged and sighed as she ran a hand through her dirty mangled hair. She grimaced at the feel and moved to get up, "Thanks so much for helping me last night. I don't even want to think of what could have happened." She glanced quickly over to Wolverine who was looking across the room. She got to her feet and felt very unstable, but chose not to show it, "But I have to get going."   
  
"Where will you go? Do you have a home?" Hank asked her as he approached to help her.   
  
Miranda held up a hand in protest which caused Hank to stop in his tracks, "No, don't have a home, but I'll go somewhere." She hobbled around the bed and found her backpack lying on the floor. She picked it up and almost lost her footing. She steadied herself.  
  
"Then why leave now?" Hank asked as he hovered around wanting to help her.  
  
Miranda shrugged as she looked around for her shoes. That's when she realized that she was wearing a medical gown. She turned back to Xavier and the two other men, "Cause, I can't stay here forever."   
  
"Says who?" Xavier replied, threading his fingers together on his lap.  
  
Miranda furrowed her brows, "You mean that you would just let me live here for as long as I wanted to. I could live here forever?"  
  
"That's what the prof is saying kid." Wolverine said impatiently. Miranda was getting the picture that he wasn't the most social person she had met.   
  
Miranda chose to ignore him and looked back at Charles, "What's the catch? Do I pay rent? I can't afford to pay rent for a place like this."  
  
Xavier shook his head, "This place is an Institute for Gifted Youngsters. Youngsters such as yourself. You have no place to go and you could live here and be a part of our family so to speak."  
  
Miranda arched her brows, "Any other benefits to living here?"  
  
"You will be accepted for who you are and be around others like you. We could teach you how to control your powers and give you exercises to increase your powers as well."  
  
Miranda finally decided it would be best if she sat down again on the bed. She sighed for a moment and then looked up at the professor with a small smile, "Control my powers?"  
  
"Yes, control and strengthen them. It is all a matter of what kind you have so we can teach you accordingly." Hank interjected.   
  
"So in other words," Wolverine said as he shifted his position, "What exactly can you do? Or is the healing power all you have?"  
  
Miranda leaned back against the bed and tiredly replied, "You think those bastards would have come after me if I could only just heal? No, I've got…multiple powers…" Miranda hated talking about this. She had always felt uncomfortable talking about how she was gifted. It made her feel more dangerous than she already was.  
  
"Well? You wanna fill us in, kid?" Mr. Logan asked gruffly. His reference to her as a kid was really getting on her nerves.  
  
"I'm not a kid." She finally snapped at him, "I'm almost eighteen and that makes me almost an adult."  
  
"Let's not get all pissy kid," Mr. Logan continued, "Just what can you do?"  
  
"Logan," Xavier warned and Logan backed down. Miranda thought bemusedly, 'Wish I could do that.' She could see that they were waiting for her reply.  
  
"Well," she began as she ran her hand over her neck, "the first one that really became noticeable was this one." She flicked open her palm and five three-inch retractable claws emerged. She also opened her mouth and revealed that her teeth had turned sharp and ran her tongue over the long sabers now in her mouth. She couldn't see it, but could feel her eyes change over as everything in the room became more sharp.   
  
She stopped mid change and said, "Thisshh goesshh fully into a large cat, but I don't really feel like going cat sshttyle right now." This was said with a slight impediment because her teeth were getting in the way. She morphed back into herself and ran her tongue over her teeth.   
  
Her audience was quite captivated by her and she took this as a sign to continue on, "I can also ricochet powers."  
  
"Meaning?" Hank asked, still very intrigued by her.  
  
"Meaning that if someone decided to zap me, instead of it hurting me, I just absorb the power and kind of shoot it back at them. It only works with certain things though." She scratched her head and finally after deciding how she wanted to word it, stated, "The most recent one to show up has something to do with energy placement or electricity."   
  
Miranda furrowed her brows, looking for the right things to say, "I can draw electricity/energy from objects or anything else for that matter and kind of shoot it back out. I also just found out that I can use it as a shield too…if that makes any sense at all." She really felt uncomfortable now because she knew even for a mutant she was unusual. Usually powers evolved, they didn't just keep appearing.  
  
If she thought she would be met with weird stares, she was wrong. Xavier just looked at her and nodded. "That's very interesting. When did they start showing up?"  
  
"The first one showed up when I was 12. Then the rest of them started to show up every so often since then. I just got the last two in the last two years."   
  
"Do you use them often?" Mr. Logan asked brusquely.  
  
Miranda fidgeted slightly and mumbled, "No."  
  
"Why not?" Logan pressed.  
  
"Because I can't honestly use them and know I won't hurt myself or the people around me. I just don't want to be found out. If more people knew…" She trailed off, looking through Logan and not really seeing anything. She was overwrought with images of a past she wanted to escape.  
  
Charles, seeing that she was becoming over distressed, "We can teach you how to control them. And don't worry, whatever you are running from, it won't find you here."   
  
She smiled cynically at Charles, "If only you knew.."  
  
Charles arched an eyebrow and offered, "I'm willing to listen."  
  
Miranda decided to stand as she laughed, "I'm not willing to tell."  
  
Charles nodded, "Understandable. We'll wait till you're ready. So are you going to stay with us?"  
  
Miranda placed her hands on her hips and after a moment of contemplation, "Can I change my mind?"   
  
"We cannot keep you here."  
  
Miranda nodded and replied, "Well, let me give this place some time. Then I'll let you know if I'm gonna stay."  
  
Xavier smiled warmly at her and Miranda felt like someone was proud of her, a feeling that she hadn't felt in ages, "Very well. Come, we will get you to your new room. You are in luck, we have an extra room down in our teacher's wing. You may stay there for the duration of your 'trial' visit. Logan will show you there. Welcome to our home, Miranda." With that, he turned from her and exited the room.   
  
Miranda turned quickly on her feet and secured her backpack to her body. As she was walking after a retreating form of Logan, her ankle gave way. She stumbled slightly and cursed under her breath.   
  
"Are you all right?" Hank asked as he placed a firm hold on her shoulder. Miranda could tell that he was generally concerned.  
  
She smiled, "Yeah, I'm fine. I just forget that it takes longer for me to heal sometimes. Thanks for your help." She shrugged out of his grip and padded off after Wolverine. She wasn't sure about this place, and she hoped that getting cleaned up and doing some of her daily exercise would help clear her head. 


	4. Ch 3: Working Out

AN: Here is the next one. I just wanted to thank Richard Raven Croft and Melly for reviewing! It makes me know that people actually read this. Thank you again. Onto the story!  
  
~~~~  
  
Miranda rolled her eyes at the brooding man in front of her. She didn't know why Logan acted like someone had stuck a stick up his ass, but she didn't care. He was getting on her bad side quickly. She picked up her pace and decided she would walk next to him instead of behind him.   
  
She found it funny that she happened to be about an inch taller than him. He was a shorty. But she knew better than to nickname him that. He would most likely cut her down to size. With that in mind, her eyes drifted to his hands. She couldn't tell from the surface that the claws were there, but she certainly still remembered. She looked up to see that he was shooting her an irritated look from the corner of his eyes.   
  
Miranda flexed her claws and held her hand up to Wolverine. He stopped in his tracks and Miranda turned to face him, "Why are yours different?"  
  
The sounds of metal could be heard as Logan unsheathed his long hard claws and replied, "Cause mine ain't natural. I didn't have a choice with this." He retracted them and continued to walk. 'Neither did I.' Miranda thought solemnly. Miranda started to walk again and caught back up to him. She ignored his low growl and kept her stride similar to his.   
  
After a few more moments of walking through a seemingly quiet house, they reached an empty hallway. Logan came to a door and thrust it open. He walked in and turned to her. "This is your room, my room is right next door and Ro's room is opposite mine."   
  
"Ro?" Miranda asked with an arched brow.  
  
Logan turned from her, "You'll meet her later. The shower is through that door on your right. Take one. Cause frankly, you smell like you've been rolling in horse shit," he glanced back at her as he closed the door, "Welcome to the Institute." He slammed the door behind him.  
  
Miranda felt the blood boiling in her head, "Bite me, wolf-boy." She did feel like she needed a shower though. She shrugged her shoulders and strolled into her bathroom compartment. Once inside, she saw that there was another door leading off to another room. Looks like she shared a bathroom with Logan. She rolled her eyes and went to the opposite door and locked it. She also locked hers and started her water.   
  
The hot water felt good on her skin. She felt all the grime wash off of her body. She was reminded of how nice it was to shower. She hadn't had this luxury in over three weeks. She lathered her hair in some shampoo that she found in the bathroom. She figured it was Wolverine's. Oh well, he would just have to get used to her using it until she could get her own.   
  
She washed her skin until it was a rosy color. She knew that her skin would hurt slightly, but at least she finally felt clean. When she was done, she stepped out and found an extra fluffy white towel. She wrapped it around her body, securing it to her tightly and stepped into her room.   
  
She smiled softly when she saw a pair of clean sweats, a clean bra, a clean pair of underwear and a navy t-shirt showcasing a red 'X' on the sleeves. The sweats also had the same emblem. She shrugged and thought, 'They don't mess around here do they? Got all the basics covered'. She slipped into the clean clothes and felt like she was new again.   
  
She padded over to the dresser drawer and pulled it open. She found a pair of white socks there and slipped them on. She furrowed her brows though when she realized that she no longer had her sneakers. She had lost them the night before when she was running from those dickweeds.   
  
For a brief moment, she wondered what had happened to them. She shook her head as she shuffled over to her door and decided to go find someone that might have some sneakers she could use. Someone here had to be a size nine and a half.  
  
She opened her door to meet a pair of clear blue eyes. A dark skinned woman stood before her with blue eyes and white hair tied up against her head. She was exotic looking and reminded Miranda of someone's sister. She couldn't exactly put her finger on it, but this woman made her feel like family… even though she didn't even know her name.   
  
"Hello there," the woman began, a warm smile playing across her face, "You must be Miranda. I'm Ororo Munroe. You can call me Storm or Miss. Munroe. Some people call me Auntie O'." Her smile seemed to get bigger as she looked down at Miranda.  
  
"Good to know," Miranda replied, not sure exactly if she liked the overly smiley woman. She studied her quickly and decided that she was better than Mr. Logan.   
  
Storm continued, "How do you like your room?"  
  
Miranda nodded, "It's nice. I haven't had a room in a long time…" She trailed off briefly and quickly countered her slip-up, "Hey, do you know where I could find some sneakers? I was wanting to do some exercise and I don't have mine anymore."  
  
Storm arched her brows, "Are you sure you can handle it? I mean, you did have a pretty rough night."  
  
Miranda nodded her head, "Yeah, but thanks to my ole healin' powers, I'm feeling much better. I just like to exercise, it clears my head."  
  
Storm nodded, "I know what you mean. Well, since I've heard that you haven't decided whether or not you want to stay, I guess the Danger Room is off, but we do have a nice facility where you can lift weights, do things of that sort. Would that be okay?"  
  
Miranda furrowed her brows, "What's the Danger Room?"  
  
"You'll find out sooner or later. I can't say much because Charles wants to run you through everything. He'll tell you later today I'm sure. Would you like me to go find some sneakers for you?"  
  
Miranda accepted her side-step and replied, "Yeah, that would be nice. Can't exactly work out in boots." She fidgeted slightly and smiled awkwardly. Miranda wasn't used to conversing with people on a normal basis…at least not in a friendly manner.  
  
Storm turned to go, "What size do you need?"  
  
"Nine and a half."  
  
Storm smiled, "I think you're in luck. Jean wears that size I believe." With that, she disappeared down the hall and off to another corridor.   
  
Miranda walked back into her room, leaving her door adjacent. She shuffled over to the window and looked out below. She saw that there were a couple of kids, looked to be around her age (or younger) playing volleyball. She looked over to the clock, it was almost noon. She watched them a bit longer and decided that they looked pretty normal to her. It might be nice to be able to live around people that accepted her. Life could be different…  
  
"Here you go," Storm reappeared into her room. She joined her at the window and said, "They have been told to give you space until you are ready to meet them. They won't bother you while you work out. Are you ready to go?"  
  
Miranda slipped on the sneakers and replied, "Ready as I'll ever be."   
  
With that, the two of them walked out of her room and down the corridor. Miranda did her best to remember how to get back there when she was done. She took in all the rich tapestries as she passed them and listened keenly to the music wafting through the entire house. It seemed like there were many different musical tastes in this household.   
  
Finally, Storm pushed open the door to what seemed to be an open gym. The place looked like every other one that Miranda had sneaked into. There were step-climbers and treadmills. There was weights and pull up bars. It would suit Miranda just fine for now. She looked over to Storm and smiled, "Thanks for showing me here."  
  
Storm bowed her head slightly, "Not a problem my child, if you need anything, you can reach us over this intercom system here on the wall. See you around." She exited the area quickly and Miranda was grateful that she understood that she needed some time to herself.   
  
Without any interruptions, Miranda began her work out. She started out with some cardiovascular stuff. She decided that she would run her three miles on the treadmill that day. She usually ran outside, but decided against it today. She wanted more time to herself, if she ran outside, she would most likely run into some of the kids. The run was slightly labored because her ribs still ached a bit. But Miranda felt good afterwards.   
  
She then decided to do a half hour of step climbing. She could feel the burn in her calves as she finished that. She didn't notice that the gym door had been quietly opened and she was being watched as she worked out.   
  
After finishing her stretches, she pulled out two low rise benches and stabilized her feet on them for push-ups. After her first ten, the watching figure crept up to her and finally made their presence known.  
  
"Kid, you're doing it wrong."   
  
Miranda froze slightly before craning her head up to see Mr. Logan staring down at her. He had changed into a pair of sweats and wife-beater. He was wearing sneakers as well. She was slightly irritated with him, "Excuse me?" She was utterly annoyed.   
  
"You gotta keep your feet shoulder length apart. If you don't, you aren't doing yourself any good." He went to her feet and roughly moved them to where they were even with her shoulders. Miranda's eyes went wide as he did this. She didn't know him that well.  
  
Miranda turned her head back towards the ground and muttered, "When I ask you for your opinion, I'll give it to you." She didn't think that he could hear it.   
  
Wolverine growled loudly and a pair of claws flashed in front of Miranda's face. She froze in mid-pushup and her eyes never left the shining metal. "You should watch that mouth of yours. Don't want to write a check that your ass can't cash. If you don't do something right, then don't do it at all." The claws withdrew from her sight and his gruff voice replied, "Finish them."  
  
Miranda gritted her teeth as she did her push-ups. She hated to admit that she felt a different burn this time. And that the work was a lot harder. That didn't mean that she didn't finish her usual 175. She got to her feet and looked Logan in the face. She raised her arms expectantly and asked, "Was that to your liking, Mr. Logan? I could do them again…" She hoped he didn't say that she needed to do them again, she didn't think that her arms would be too happy with her.   
  
Wolverine crossed his arms over his chest and answered, "What else you gonna do?"  
  
Miranda walked over to the pull-up bar and grabbed hold, "Some pull-ups, sit-ups, and leg lifts. That all right with you?"  
  
Mr. Logan walked over to her at the bar, "I'm gonna stick around and make sure you do it right. Go on now, show me."  
  
"This is ri-God Damn-diculous," She spit out as she began to pull herself up. Her leg flayed to the side and she hated the fact that she was being studied for problems. She hated being picked apart and she couldn't remember the last time she had let someone just tell her what she was doing was wrong. She decided her best to ignore this new nuisance. He may have been big enough to rip her in half, but he was still annoying nonetheless.   
  
She managed to ignore him quite well for a while. That is, until he decided to--mid lift, no less-- cross her flaying feet over one another. "That'll keep you from causing damage to anyone around you. Especially me."   
  
Miranda chose to ignore him and continued her mental count of how many she had left to do. She once again hated to admit that having her feet like that was making it a lot less difficult to finish her work out. Mr. Logan obviously knew what he was doing…not like she would ever tell him that.   
  
The rest of her workout went much like that. After she was done with her pull-ups, she started on her sit-ups. As she was doing her sit-ups, Logan stood at her feet, holding them down with his feet. He counted loudly so she would know what number she was on. Miranda didn't see the prevalence in this because she knew very well what number she was on.   
  
At the end of her two-hundred sit-ups, she got to her feet and ran a hand through her hair. It was still damp, so she didn't really worry about getting it sweaty again. She started to do her stretches again as Logan headed for the door.   
  
"Oh and next time you use my stuff, ask first." He said as he stopped at the door.  
  
Miranda laughed incredulously at him, "You know if I stay here, you and I are gonna go rounds."  
  
Wolverine arched his brows at her, "Yeah, and I'll win every time. You can count on that" He turned to go, "When you're done, the prof wants to see you in his office." He slammed the door on his way out.   
  
Miranda shook her head as she finished up. On upon leaving the gym, she realized one important thing. She didn't know where the Professor's office was. She sighed as she clicked on the intercom and asked, "Hey out there, how do I get to the prof's office?"  
  
A voice that she hadn't heard before got onto the com, "I'll show you! I'll be there in a flash!"  
  
"No you won't Kurt." Professor Xavier's voice sounded on the com system. He continued, "Miss Miranda, I will tell you the way." He gave her directions and Miranda left the gym. After a few wrong turns, she ended up where she thought she was supposed to be.  
  
She knocked on the door and poked her head through. Inside stood Hank, Storm, Mr. Logan and the professor. "Come in Miranda." Charles offered. Miranda walked in and stood fiddling with her hands in front of her.   
  
"We have all decided that it would be good for you to buy yourself some new clothes." Charles began.  
  
"Yes, considering that the ones you own are….well worn." Hank interjected politely.   
  
Charles proffered a clip of cash towards Miranda. "Here is 400 dollars for you to buy yourself a new wardrobe and some other odds and ends that you might need."  
  
Miranda stared wide-eyed at the adults before her, "Is this for real? I mean, what if I don't stay?"  
  
"You would still need new clothes and I would prefer you not steal them. The money is a gift from all of us. Spend it how you see fit."  
  
Miranda blinked at them all and finally stammered, "Th-thanks, I guess."  
  
Xavier nodded, "A cab is waiting for you out front. We will see you this afternoon. I was wondering if then would be alright to introduce you to the students here." Miranda nodded as she felt the wad of cash in her hands. She had never had so much money in her life.   
  
"Good. We will see you later then."  
  
With that, Miranda took one last look at them and turned to leave. She smiled widely, she hadn't been able to do this in a long time. But shopping was something that one never got rusty at. She couldn't wait. 


	5. Ch 4: Meet n' Greet & Show n' Tell

AN: Thanks again Richard for the review! This chapter is kind of long. Sorry if it gets too tedious to read. I just didn't want to break it up into different chapters. Enjoy and review!  
  
~~~  
  
Miranda was thankful that she had remembered to grab her trench coat. Her outfit full of X's might have been a bit conspicuous. She walked around the mall, with her hands jammed in her pockets, her right hand never leaving the clip of money. She would feel much better when the money was spent.   
  
She walked into the first shop and all fear of the money being stolen disappeared. Someone would actually have to stop her from spending first. She left that store feeling as if she had gotten some good clothes for a bargain price. She smiled like a little kid and realized how much fun it was to act like a normal girl, just shopping her day away.   
  
Three hours later, she was feeling very proud of herself. She had gotten herself five new pairs of pants (two black, two dark denim and one pair of khaki), ten new tops (all at bargain price or so she thought), two skirts (she never knew, she might need them someday) a dress, and three new pairs of shoes (all marked down). That was just the beginning, she had also gotten four new pairs of underwear, four new bras, some perfume (how long had it been since she had gotten some) eyeliner, eye shadow, lip gloss, a toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant and some socks. After all this, she still had 120 dollars. Damn she was good, or at least she thought so.   
  
As she was walking around, bags weighing her down, she wondered on what she could spend her money on. Her green eyes fell onto a hair salon. She looked down at the tips of her hair. Why not? She had enough money and her hair was in desperate shape. She shrugged her shoulders and strolled in.   
  
After the people their made a fuss over her damaged hair, she got a conditioning treatment (nothing like having hot goo all over one's head), her hair was cut (it was now cut in choppy layers because they told her that it would help with all the dead ends she had) and she decided that she wanted black and red highlights. She also bought a hair dryer, a brush, a curler and some shampoo and conditioner.   
  
"Come back anytime doll," her stylist said with a sugary smile, "I look forward to seeing you in the future!" She was handed a card and as Miranda left, she smiled cynically. They would have never even looked at her if she hadn't had any money. But the creed had always been greed and Miranda had known that for almost all her life.   
  
The last thing she did before leaving was go into an accessory shop (she still had twenty dollars left) and bought herself some silver hoops and long dangling silver tear drops for her ears (which she got pierced by a man in an alley way two years earlier), she got two rings, and a necklace that brandished three stars.   
  
As she walked towards the door, she realized that she was going to play 'meet and greet' when she got back to the Institute. 'Might as well make an impression,' she thought as she veered off into a restroom area.   
  
She closed herself into a stall and began to change. She took off all her clothes and decided that she would go for all new things. Lacy bikini cut panties with a matching lacy bra. It didn't matter that no one would see them, she still wore them. She then slipped on a plain green t-shirt with the slogan, 'This t-shirt isn't fashionable' across the front and a slipped on a pair of her low rise black carpenter's on. She then slipped on her new pair of chunky black boots on and stuffed her old clothes into one of her bags.   
  
She strolled out of the stall and pulled out her eyeliner and eye shadow. She had decided to stick with neutral browns and black eyeliner. She figured it was a sure thing. She applied the eyeliner with some difficulty (the lower lids gave her trouble) and then applied her eyeshadow. With that done, she applied some lip gloss and slipped on her rings.  
  
She spritzed with some of her new perfume and decided to put in her silver hoops. She smiled at her image in the mirror. She no longer looked like the street rat that she had been for the last six years. She looked like a human again. She could feel the corners of her eyes prickling with tears, but she blinked them away, refusing to cry over something like that.   
  
She ran a hand through her now shoulder length hair and marveled at the subtle highlights of red and black in her light brown hair. It had been almost to her elbows before, but the split ends were massive and now with the new length it looked healthier and cleaner.   
  
She laughed as she put all her new belonging back into her bags and put her faithful hooded slate trench coat and strolled out to catch a cab. She stood out on the curb, her bags almost pulling her down. She set some down and hailed a cab. One pulled over and she stuffed her bags into the backseat. She was slightly annoyed that her driver didn't offer help.  
  
"Xavier Institute," Miranda said shortly.   
  
The man nodded and drove away. The drive was relatively short and if Miranda hadn't had so many bags, she would have walked. The man obviously knew where he was going, which Miranda was thankful for because she wasn't sure she could get them there without getting lost.   
  
As they approached the mansion, the gates opened before they stopped. Miranda said quietly, "They've been expecting me." Her driver still didn't say a word to her as he pulled up to the front stairs. Miranda rolled her eyes as she saw Mr. Logan approaching the cab. Why was it always him? She would have much preferred Professor Xavier or Miss Munroe.   
  
Logan went to the driver's side and thrust into the man's face a twenty. Miranda knew this was too much fare money, but decided to keep her mouth shut. If Logan wanted to spend his money like that, let him. She opened her door and grabbed her bags. If she was thinking that Logan was going to help her with her stuff, she was dead wrong. As the cab left, she picked up her bags and turned to see that Logan was smirking at her from where he stood.   
  
"Buy out the whole mall, kid? We thought we were gonna have to send out a search party for you." He stated as he walked up to the mansion.   
  
"Eat me, asshole," she muttered. She was rewarded with a warning glare as they walked into the mansion.  
  
Miranda couldn't stand it any longer, "How the hell did you hear me. I barely whispered that."  
  
Logan didn't look at her as he replied, "Another one of my gifts. Heightened senses. God, did you marinate in that perfume?"  
  
Miranda looked at him indignantly, "Oh my…." she trailed off, growling under her breath. If she thought she could win, she would deck him. She bit her tongue on further conversation. She still noticed that there were no kids running about. She was impressed that Xavier had so much control over the kids here. She wondered what they would think of her. She broke away from Logan and went to her room.   
  
'Welcome back Miranda,' Charles voice boomed in her head as she made it to her room. She dropped the bags in response. She looked wildly around the room. That was not normal.  
  
'Do not be alarmed. This is how I summon all the students here. I was wondering if you would come down to the Rec Room. The students are waiting to meet you.'  
  
'Yeah,' Miranda thought awkwardly, 'I'll be right down.' The professor's voice receded from her head and she sighed. "I'm definitely not in Kansas anymore." She ran a hand once more through her hair and exited her room, doing her best to make it to the rec room.  
  
****  
  
Logan had been surprised when Miranda had stepped out of the cab. She wasn't the same girl that had left there earlier. She was actually human now. Earlier, she had looked like a ratty little beggar that littered the streets of New York, now she different.   
  
First off, she looked more like a teenager. She had on makeup and earrings. She was wearing something that Logan thought Jean might wear. Her hair was done in a similar way as to what Rogue would do and her jewelry looked like Kitty's and Amara's. She looked pretty and inviting.   
  
But that wasn't something that--as a teacher and potential guardian-- was supposed to think about possible students. Not to mention that she was considerably younger than him. Logan growled inwardly, what the hell was he thinking? He would treat her like he treated the rest of the students; he would be rude and cold. But that was hard to do because he found out that she liked to shoot her mouth off. And it was too much fun to verbally spar with her. She was a lot like Kurt in that way, he could banter back and forth with the elf.   
  
"She's coming?" Bobby asked expectantly, drawing Logan's attention back to the mess of excited kids gathered in the rec room. None of them had really seen Miranda except for the older students, but even they hadn't got a good look at her. She was too mangled to be inspected.   
  
"That's what the prof said Icecube," Logan replied.   
  
"I wonder what she's like," Kurt began, his accent coming through slightly, "We need a pretty new face around her. I don't know about you guys, but it's terribly bland looking at the same girls day after day.." He said with a mischievous smile. A glint of his fangs could be seen as he looked daringly at the six girls that were clustered together on the couch.  
  
Rogue let her mouth drop open slightly as she spat out, "You jerk!" With that, she launched a pillow at him. Kurt simply bamfed out of range and laughed at her.   
  
"Really, Rogue, you can't honestly think that you can hit me."  
  
"I bet we all could if we tried," Jean answered as she sent a pillow in his direction. The rest of the girls followed in suite as Kurt tried to evade them. By the end, he was rolling on the ground laughing at them.  
  
Rahne growled as she turned into the wolf and pounced on him. Kurt struggled with her for a moment until Ray came to his rescue, laughing as he did. The three of them were wrestling around on the floor when Xavier felt Miranda's presence in the hall.   
  
"She's coming," he said softly. Logan heard it and called out to the three.  
  
"Knock it off you three. Miranda's coming."   
  
The entire room starts to buzz excitedly. It sounded like a bunch of insects in the room. Logan felt his patience run thin, "The next person I hear, gets an extra hour in the danger room with me. Trust me, you won't like it"  
  
The kids must have believed him because they quieted quickly. Logan nodded gruffly at them and then sat down next to Hank. Hank gave him a bemused look which Logan chose to ignore.   
  
Ororo and Charles were closest to the doors and smiled warmly at Miranda as she poked her head through the doors. She nodded to them and shuffled in. Her hands were stuffed deeply into her trench coat pockets and she stopped short of Logan and Hank. She looked over the kids in the room and studied each one as she went. Xavier came forward and Storm joined Logan and Hank.   
  
"Please, take a seat," Charles offered her.   
  
Miranda scanned the students once again and shook her head, "No thanks, I'll stand for now." She had become increasingly anxious as she had approached the rec room and now that she had nineteen pairs of eyes on her, she really just wanted to run away. She messed around with the fabric inside of her pockets.  
  
One student with blue hair smiled jovially at her and opened his arms to her, "Come on, we don't bite." He had a slight German accent.   
  
Miranda arched her brows at him and smiled casually, "We'll see about that." He made her feel a bit more at ease.  
  
He shrugged his shoulders and laughed.   
  
"Kurt is right Miranda," Storm interjected, "We are all friends here. These students won't cause you any harm."  
  
"Well," another boy began, his brown hair sticking up oddly, "not intentionally at least." He smiled charmingly at her.   
  
"That is Bobby Drake," Xavier began, and the other boy is Kurt Wagner," the two boys waved again as the prof continued, "All of you, please state your name for Miranda and give her a bit about your gifts."  
  
"Well, since I've already been introduced," Kurt began, he tapped the watch on his hand and Miranda saw his true blue self, "I am really blue and fuzzy. I can teleport," he bamfed into the further corner of the room and continued, "anywhere I please." He bamfed back to his spot and smiled at her again. Miranda took not at the spaded tail the flicked around from his behind. That was cool.   
  
"Yeah, and I can do stuff with ice," Bobby clasped his hands together and Miranda was surprised that he had taken notice of the stars that hung around her neck because he made a replica of it in his hands. He smiled again, "That's why they call me Iceman."   
  
A boy, with red quartz sun glasses on, scoffed, "You wish. I'm Scott Summers and I," he pulled his sunglasses away slightly, revealing a glowing red brimming behind the shades, "have optic blasts that emit from my eyes." He gave a short wave.  
  
The red-head next to him smiled warmly and began, "I'm Jean Grey and I have some telekinetic and telepathic powers." She demonstrated shortly and the introductions went on.   
  
There was so many people to remember. There was Ray who manipulated electricity, Roberto who gained power from the sun, Kitty who could phase through objects, Rahne who could morph into a wolf, Amara who can emit waves of heat, Sam who could use thermo-chemical energy to propel himself with extreme speed, Evan who could project bone spikes (was Storm's nephew no less), Rogue who absorbed powers and memories by touch, Jamie who could turn himself into multiples and Jubilee who could manipulate light and cause fireworks to appear. Miranda thought her mind might have a severe melt down. But this little introduction she sat through had done its purpose, she felt more comfortable around them. She felt like she belonged. Because they were all like her.   
  
"And of course, you know my gifts," Xavier said and gestured to Logan, "And I'm sure you know Mr. Logan's."  
  
Miranda nodded and looked to Storm, "Just guessing, but would your powers have anything to do with the weather?"  
  
Storm laughed, "That easy to tell?"   
  
Miranda smiled and looked to Hank, "And what about you? Super…" She came to a blank. Hank didn't take to long to fill her in.  
  
"Intelligence and strength."   
  
"Okay," Miranda said with wide eyes. She was utterly perplexed. This was so much for her to handle. She finally took her hands out of her pockets and ran them through her hair. "Wow, I don't know what to say.."  
  
"What can you do?" Scott asked. The other students nodded in ascension. They had shown her theirs, they wanted to see hers.   
  
Even the instructors seemed a bit interested. The only person that seemed indifferent to the entire thing was Wolverine. And Miranda wasn't sure if she should be annoyed or thankful.   
  
"You don't have to if you are not ready," Xavier began.   
  
Miranda shook her head and replied suddenly, "No. That's alright. I just have never had such a captive audience before." This generated some friendly smiles from the people in the room. She swallowed dryly as she took off her trench coat. She didn't notice the male eyes traveling to her body. Not that she ever noticed when people looked at her, she never really had a lot of time to look at herself vainly.   
  
She cut her eyes over to the professor, "Guess you'll see the full version of it now." With that, she flicked her hands open and long retractable claws sprouted from where her fingernails were. She opened her mouth as the feline teeth grew in, long and sharp. Her eyes dilated and the room watched as her green eyes turned into crisp blue feline eyes. Her clothes melded to her body and thick white fur sprung up.   
  
The room watched raptly as her frame jutted forward and a long agitated tail rushed out and swished angrily in the air. Her hands and feet turned into massive paws, her shows having melded to her body. She opened her mouth and let out a long yowl that sounded much like that of a leopard. By the time she was finished, there crouched a large cat in her place. Much larger than a tiger. At her shoulder, she stood at least five feet. She was massive and impressive.   
  
"Whoa," Kurt murmured as he watched her in awe. The massive white feline paced back and forth, watching them all with an intensity that made them feel like they were on the menu for lunch. Miranda quickly morphed back into herself and cracked her neck. That was the one side effect, she got cricks in her back and neck.   
  
"Nice," Kitty offered. She, like the other students, was very impressed.   
  
"Yeah," Rahne interjected excitedly, "we gotta a lot in common in that way."   
  
Miranda couldn't help but smile as excited murmurs filled the room commending her on her powers. No one had ever given her a positive response to them. She felt like for the first time, she could be proud of herself. She even was pleasantly surprised to see a small smile on Logan's face…but then again, it could be a smirk.   
  
"Very good Miranda," Charles said as he threaded his fingers together, "Would you like to show us the rest of them?"  
  
"The rest of them?" Rogue asked incredulously, "You got more?" The room was once again ignited with conversation.  
  
Miranda fidgeted with her fingers, "Well, I mean, I guess I could. But I could cause some damage. Just to warn you."  
  
"Why don't we take it outside. The last thing we need is another hole in this room or in someone else." Logan said as he walked to the door leading to the yard out back. Xavier and the two other instructors followed. Soon Miranda and the other students were trouping outside as well.   
  
The sun was almost close to setting as they gathered around the back yard. They were standing far enough from the house so Miranda couldn't cause too much property damage, she just hoped that she didn't cause any bodily damage. She wiped her sweating hands on her pants and hoped for the best.   
  
"I can ricochet powers too. This one is sort of new."  
  
"Come again?" Scott asked, "What exactly does that mean?"  
  
Miranda smiled weakly at him and motioned towards herself, "Shoot an optic blast at me."  
  
She couldn't tell what he was thinking because those red glasses blocked most of the expression on his face. He continued to stare at her and then looked over to the professor, "Prof?"  
  
Xavier nodded and Scott sighed. He lifted his glasses up and offered, "I hope you know what you're doing." A red blast went streaking from Scott to Miranda.   
  
'I hope so too,' Miranda thought a moment before the blast made it to her. She closed her eyes and held her hands up towards it. Instead of feeling pain, all she felt was a slight burning sensation that reverberated through her entire body, like waves crashing against each other. She then held her hands above her and released Scott's blast into the night sky. She hoped to God that nothing was up there.   
  
She looked over at Scott and her fingers still tingled, "Kind of feels like my hands fell asleep and that I've been burned on the inside, but it passes. Other than that, I'm fine."  
  
"Does that work on everything?" Jean asked curiously.   
  
"Only on certain things. I can't ricochet things like bullets."  
  
"How do you know?" a young boy asked, she thought it was Jamie.  
  
Miranda decided to be blunt, "Cause I've been shot at. Still hurts to think about it."  
  
Before anyone could interject questions, Storm stated, "Is there any other powers that you have?"  
  
Miranda nodded nervously, "Yeah, but this one is really new. I can't quite control it, but I can show you. But I don't want you guys around. If you are, I can't promise that you won't get fried."  
  
With that, Storm and Logan marched the students and themselves into the mansion. She felt odd that they had taken her word so quickly. She also felt really odd standing alone in the back yard while the others gawked at her from inside. Xavier sounded in her mind, 'Ready when you are.'  
  
Miranda nodded towards them and gulped. This was going to hurt. Hopefully not too much. She spread her arms out away from her and splayed her fingers on her hands. She pulled back slightly and felt the energy and electricity being drawn to her. She glanced down at her hands and saw that golden streams of channeled electricity were building in her palms. Red channels of what she presumed to be raw energy came to her as well. She began to tremble as she clenched her fists and drew her hands together in front of her. Her breath faltered in her throat as she struggled to bring the power together. It was like opposite polar pulls and they didn't want to be joined.   
  
Finally after some struggle, she brought her hands together and opened them palm to palm. She pressed them firmly together and felt her body becoming an electrical current. She let out a small wail as she felt it. It was so much…so…much. She couldn't hold it any longer and released her hands from one another. She dropped to her knees as a ball of electricity and energy expelled itself from her body and shot out anyway it could go. It only took a second for it all to dissipate back into the atmosphere. Miranda felt laid out as she watched the reddish sky as the sun disappeared.   
  
A moment later, rushing footsteps could be heard. And a familiar BAMF! With the smell of sulfur filling the air, she looked up to see the concerned blue face of Kurt Wagner. He offered her a three fingered hand and Miranda took it. She felt the static shock between them, but Kurt ignored it politely.  
  
"Are you alright?" he asked as she steadied herself. Miranda looked over his shoulder to see that Logan, Hank, Scott and the rest of Institute had come running out. Concern etched on each of their faces.   
  
Miranda ran a hand through her hair, which was now standing up on end slightly. She smiled sheepishly and asked, "My hair looks like I stuck my hand in a socket doesn't it?"  
  
"Yeah, but it doesn't look too bad on you," Amara offered. Miranda laughed at that. She looked around the backyard. Nothing seemed to be broken. Thank god for small favors.  
  
She fidgeted again and said, "I can do something else with it too, but I think I over did it. Held the power in too long and drew in too much. Sorry."   
  
"There is no need to apologize. As long as your fine and I am sure that we will get to see what else you can do later." Storm replied sternly and at the same time nurturing.   
  
"Thanks," Miranda said as she ran her hand over her neck.   
  
"So," Evan began, "did we pass your test? Are you gonna stay here with us?"  
  
Miranda wasn't prepared for that question. She looked at all the faces. Most of them were expectant, pleading with her. She didn't see a harsh face in the bunch. Even Logan's face remained impassive as she thought about how she was going to reply. Did she really need more time to make up her mind? In the day that she had spent there, they had treated her with more humanity than anyone had in the past six years. She already knew what her answer was going to be.   
  
"Miranda doesn't have to make up her mind tonight. She can--" Xavier began.  
  
"No," Miranda interrupted, "I've made up my mind. I'm gonna stay."  
  
The group around her erupted into triumphant yells. She was patted on the back by Kurt and he whispered, "Welcome to the family."  
  
Miranda laughed at that and looked over to Xavier. He was smiling back at her as well as Storm and Hank. Her eyes fell on Logan and he smiled knowingly as he called out, "Looks like Round One will be starting soon."   
  
Miranda laughed again as the students filtered back into the rec room. She stood watching them go, trying to absorb what she had just become a part of. Her life would never be the same. She didn't know how to take it. A weird feeling built up in her as Kurt came running back over to her, "You wanna watch a movie with us?"  
  
"Yeah, sure. What are you watching?"  
  
"It's a toss up between Super Troopers and The Breakfast Club."  
  
Miranda furrowed her brows, " Hands down, Super Troopers. Like the other one stands a chance."  
  
Kurt smiled widely, revealing his glistening fangs, "I think you and I are going to get along just fine." With that, the two of them joined the others in the rec room. And Miranda felt like for the first time in a long time that she was home.  
  
The only catch was trying to keep her past home life away. And that was easier said than done. 


	6. Ch 5: Shadows of the Mind

This one is a little short, but it used to be really long. I cut this one chapter into two because I didn't want it to be that long. Please review, it makes me happy. Thank you!  
  
~~~  
  
Miranda had enjoyed herself. She had stayed up late with Kurt and the other older X-men (the younger students had to go to bed earlier on Saturdays) watching Super Troopers and 28 Days Later. The latter of which Miranda spent the time pointing out gross discrepancies, while the other girls (even Rogue) hid behind pillows or people (for instance, Jean hid behind Scott, but he didn't really seem to mind). Although, Miranda found herself bracing herself for some of the parts that she couldn't predict. Which Kurt took full advantage of.   
  
As Miranda braced herself for what was about to come, Kurt jabbed her roughly in the side. Miranda yelped at the sudden touch and glared at Kurt. He pointed at her and laughed, "Not so brave now? Ha! I knew you were scared!"  
  
Miranda rolled her eyes and decided that she would take up a seat between Kitty and Rogue. Even though, Kitty's speech could be a bit mind numbing, Miranda found herself liking her. She felt something different with Rogue, like a quiet agreement that they liked one another.   
  
After the movie was over, Miranda realized something, "Hey, where's the kitchen? I haven't eaten in almost two days."   
  
Jean gestured to the hall, "Take a left out the door and it's the third room on your right." She then went back to playing with Scott's hair.   
  
Miranda took her leave and as she got to the kitchen, she realized that it had been a long day. She rummaged through the fridge and decided that she would eat some yogurt and a banana. Nothing too heavy. She finished it off with some orange juice and felt suddenly tired. She rubbed her eyes and moseyed back to the rec room. She waved inside, "See you guys tomorrow!"  
  
"Yeah," Scott called back, "Welcome to the team!"  
  
'Team,' Miranda thought as she made her way to her room. She had never been part of something like this. She hoped things worked out. She didn't want to have to run again. She was so tired of running. Now, she hoped, she could finally slow down and enjoy life.   
  
Once in her room, she changed into her sweats and quietly went into the bathroom to wash her face. She froze when she realized that Logan's door to his room was opened slightly. She cursed silently and tip-toed to his door and slowly shut it. She then shuffled over to the sink and washed all the makeup off of her face. She then went back into her room to grab her toothbrush. She hadn't been able to do this in a long time. She almost giggled at the thought of brushing her teeth. Sure, she had eaten toothpaste before, but this time, she was actually cleaning her teeth.   
  
In her small excitement, she had forgotten about her "bathroom" mate. She flinched violently as she entered the bathroom to find a very agitated Logan standing in the door way to his room. He was shirtless and had on a pair of sweats. "God, Logan. You trying to give me a heart attack or is it just you?"  
  
Logan snorted, "That's Mr. Logan. And try to be a little quieter when brushing your teeth. Sounded like a herd of elephants in here." Without waiting for a response, he stalked out of the bathroom and slammed his door. Miranda flipped the closed door the bird and brushed her teeth. She tried to be as noisy as she could….he deserved it. She stomped back into her room and nestled down in her covers.   
  
She wondered if she would wake up and be back on the streets. She almost believed that she would. There was no way that all of this happened in a day. Miranda looked up at the ceiling for a moment and closed her eyes with a sigh. There was only one way to find out if it was a dream. She fell asleep, knowing that when she woke up, she'd get her answers.   
  
***  
  
"Get up." A gruff voice stated. Miranda opened her eyes slowly and almost smiled at the sight of Logan hovering above her, it hadn't been a dream. But then she realized that Logan was standing in her room….was there while she was sleeping.   
  
"God, can you be a bit more creepy?" She snapped as she sat up and wiped the sleep from her eyes.   
  
"Get over it kid," Logan said as he crossed his arms over his chest, "You need to come down and see the Danger Room. After that, Charles needs to get all your information to enroll you at Bayville High tomorrow. Get dressed and hurry up, I'll be waiting." He stalked out of her room.   
  
"So much for taking a shower," Miranda muttered as she grabbed her backpack and pulled out a hair band. She tied her hair to the back of her head hastily, annoyed at the pieces that fell in her face. She then quickly pulled on a pair of jeans and threw on a ribbed tank top and slipped on her boots. She tied them hastily and stumbled out of her room to find Wolverine leaning up against the opposite wall.   
  
He was wearing that goofy looking outfit again. It was orange and black and she could tell that the mask was hanging around his neck. He gave her the once over and said, "I guess that will do for today. Not like your gonna join us. Come on."   
  
Miranda furrowed her brows at that and hurried after him. They twisted around the cavernous mansion until finally, Logan led her to the front of an odd looking elevator. He tapped a button and the doors parted, revealing a metallic interior. She followed him in and they started to descend. Miranda looked over his shoulder to see how many levels under they were going. Her eyes widened to see that there were at least six different levels that they were going under.   
  
"Need a fuckin' map around here." She muttered, forgetting that Logan had heightened senses and heard her easily.   
  
"Watch the mouth, Sailor. And don't worry, this becomes easy after you have been here for awhile." The elevator door opened and they walked down a corridor that looked like it came straight out of Star Trek. Wolverine led her down to end where a huge door met them. He punched in a few codes and walked in, "You'll get your own access codes later this week, once I get them programmed in. You will be expected to train in here with me four times a week and with both Hank and Ororo once a week. We also expect to run training sims by yourself once a week as well."   
  
"So, six days a week huh?" Miranda asked incredulously as Logan turned towards a staircase and led her up into a control room area. There sat the professor, Storm and Hank.  
  
"Yeah, that's why you get Saturdays off. Your uniform will be issued at the end of the day. This place is the control room and is where we set up our simulations. I'll be down there with the team, so you need to watch what a standard training sim looks like." Logan took his leave and Miranda looked over at Charles questioningly.   
  
Xavier stated, "Don't worry, your answers will soon be revealed."   
  
Storm typed in a code and spoke through the microphone down to the team, "Running Sim C-12 Omega."   
  
Miranda didn't speak another word as she raptly watched the Danger Room transform into a tundra like landscape and snow blew all around. She felt her mouth drop open slightly as the team burst into action, fighting, using their powers and doing some acrobatic stuff that she would've never pinned them down for doing. They worked marvelously as a unit and Miranda was beyond impressed.   
  
She was surprised when the sim stopped running and it had been an hour. She watched, not knowing that the adults in the control room with her were watching her with pleasant delight. She was too busy paying attention to Wolverine barking out criticism.   
  
"Icecube, if you can't get your act together and stop messing around, I'm gonna put you on house arrest forever. Got it?" He turned to Jubilee.  
  
"Firecracker, you are gonna have to suck it up and actually sweat during these sessions. You are gonna have to break a nail or two." He then turned to Evan.  
  
"Porcupine, if I here just one more insulting remark out of your mouth to the younger teammates, you're on kitchen duty for two months. I am in charge here and I don't need your help. All the rest of you, good job. Could be better, but we're done here. Hit the showers." With that, the mass of kids down in the Danger Room collectively groaned and limped out of the room.   
  
Miranda finally turned to Xavier, "Does he ever call anyone by their name?"  
  
"Not usually," Hank offered, "He's calling them nicknames of their code names."   
  
"Code names?" Miranda asked with arched brows.  
  
"We'll worry about that later." Xavier said as he headed for the door. "Come, I need to get your information for enrollment tomorrow."  
  
Miranda grimaced as she followed him out of the control room. Her stomach began to tie itself into knots. She wasn't looking forward to having this talk with the professor. She didn't like talking about her past, a lot of it she had forcibly forgotten and she hated delving anywhere close to what she had locked away. She couldn't remember a lot of the details, but they still haunted her at night. They were like an encasing shadow that refused to diffuse to let her see what the real trouble was. She didn't want to really know what lied beyond the shadows anyway.   
  
Once inside his office, Miranda sat down in the chair in front of his desk. She fidgeted with her hands and finally noticed that she was being watched with some concern. She smiled weakly at him, "Sorry."  
  
Xavier nodded his head, "It's quite alright. But tell me, why are you so scared? Do you not trust us here?"  
  
"No," Miranda replied, shaking her head with fervor, " It's just that I don't like talking about my past. It's not a good thing for anyone involved."  
  
"My dear child, we won't be talking about that," Xavier stated, "I just need your information for classes at Bayville. Now, first, all I need is your last name."   
  
"Could we make one up?" Miranda asked quickly. She felt herself trembling, she didn't want to answer the string of questions that were coming.  
  
But questions didn't come. Xavier studied her for a long moment before nodding his head, "Not a problem, I will get all that taken care of. What about grade level? Where should you be placed?"  
  
Miranda, thankful that he had moved away from the other questions replied softly, "I haven't been in school since I was 12." Before the professor could respond, she went on, "I did skip out three grades though and was going to be in ninth grade." She smiled meekly at him, "What can I say? Just another smart kid. After I stopped attending school, I used to go into every library I could find and I would spend hours reading. I would also run into book stores and read everything about anything. So I really don't know what grade level I'm at."  
  
Xavier's face was well masked as he replied, "That's fine, we can go in tomorrow and have you test out to what grade you should be in. I don't believe there is anything else for me to ask of you Miranda. You may go. Thank you for your time."   
  
Miranda didn't move. She looked at him and wondered where he had come from. He hadn't pushed her into telling him anything. He had respected her space and accommodated to her. She wanted to hug him for it. And in that moment, she trusted him. She would follow this man to the ends of the earth if he asked her to. He deserved to know as much as she could give him.   
  
She swallowed hard and stared at a place on his desk, not trusting herself to look at him, "My last name is Daray. Um, I can't remember much from before I started living on the streets. It's like it's wrapped in blackness, shadows really. They scare me when I dream about them. I cannot tell what they are. All I know about my past, or can really remember is that my dad thinks I'm dead. I have to keep running from him. And he can never find me…never…. he'll….he'll .." By the end of her speech, she was wringing her hands together and rocking back and forth, shaking. Her voice was barely above a whisper.   
  
Professor Xavier had come to her side and softly stated, "Look at me Miranda."  
  
Miranda looked up into his calm eyes and stopped shaking almost immediately. He placed two fingers on her forehead and continued, "I can help you if you let me. I'll sedate the memories until your ready to face them."   
  
Miranda nodded her head with fervor and replied with a hollow cracking voice, "Make them go away."  
  
Charles nodded his head and closed his eyes. A weird feeling crept over Miranda and within moments, she wasn't really sure why she was so upset in the first place. The shadows had gone back into the recesses of her mind, no longer threatening to reveal what laid behind them.   
  
Xavier smiled at her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "You may go. Enjoy your day and first thing tomorrow, we'll get you enrolled at school."  
  
"Thank you Professor," Miranda smiled gratefully at him and exited the room.   
  
Once Miranda had left, Charles Xavier was filled with great concern. He had caught a glimpse of what her mind had caged. The shadows of the memories were dangerous. He didn't know what they were, but he knew that for Miranda's own good, she needed to face them. But first, he needed to find out who her father was. He summoned Hank, Logan and Ororo. They needed to know about this and he needed them to help him find out who Mr. Daray was.   
  
There was much to be done. 


	7. Ch 6: Another Day

Yeah, I know that it was fast. I decided to chop one really long chapter into two. Please review because it makes me smile. Thank you!  
  
~~~  
  
Miranda had gone quickly back to her room and changed into her work out clothes. She laced up her new sneakers and decided to go for a run around the facility. She was joined by Jean, who happened to be an avid runner and on the track team at Bayville…or used to be, before she was taken off because of her gifts. And by the end of their run, Miranda really did like Jean. But the 'uppity good citizen' attitude most likely would get on her nerves in the future.  
  
She then went into the gym and found Scott was already using the facilities. She nodded to him as she began her push-ups. After her 175, she got to her feet to see that Scott hadn't left. He smiled at her, "That's impressive. I don't think any of the girls here can do anywhere near that amount."  
  
"Thanks," she said with an easy smile.  
  
Scott nodded, "Well, I'll see you at lunch."   
  
By the end of her work out and after a nice long shower, Miranda had completely gotten over her episode in the Professor's office. She dried her hair and decided to fix it a bit. She applied some makeup and put on top that criss-crossed all the way down the back and a pair of hip hugger jeans. She slipped on her jewelry and laced up her boots as she clopped down towards the kitchen. The place was slowly becoming familiar to her.   
  
She could hear the noise in the kitchen before she even made it there. She strolled into the kitchen and smiled happily at Professor Xavier. Her eyes traveled over the other instructor's faces. The look they gave her revealed that they had been informed of her past. Miranda shrugged that away, 'Better that he told them than me.' She sat down next to Kurt and he passed her the rolls.   
  
The entire meal was a bunch of laughter as she and Kurt talked about things in a rather suggestive manner. By the end of the meal, Scott was a nice shade of red. And most of the girls for that matter. The adults were sitting further away and chose not to notice the talk. Evan and Bobby were rolling. Ray, Roberto and Sam looked at Miranda with wonder, wanting to know if such vulgar things had come out of her mouth. The girls were wondering the same thing too.   
  
Kurt laughed insanely as he pointed to Scott, "Looks like we've accomplished the impossible, we've made our fearless leader blush!"   
  
Miranda looked over at him with a predatory smile, "What Scott, never hear ham talked about like that? Where have you been?"  
  
Evan laughed loudly as he offered her his hand, "You are my new hero!"  
  
Miranda took his offered hand and they did a typical guy handshake, ending it with connected fists. She laughed at him and looked over mischievously at Kurt.  
  
"See? I told you we'd get along just fine!"   
  
Kitty finally spoke up, "Ugh, it's like you're a boy. How can you talk like that with a straight face?"  
  
Roberto cut his eyes over to her, "You know you like it." Kitty rolled her eyes at him and threw a roll at him.  
  
Miranda looked over at Kitty, "Most people that I've known think I should have been born a boy. That's why they always called me Randy. Besides, guys are more fun to hang out with. I get along better with them anyway." She wrapped an arm around Jamie, who had blushed scarlet throughout the entire meal and her other arm around Kurt. Kitty smiled incredulously at her and took her plate into the kitchen.   
  
"Randy," Kurt began, "I like it. I dub thee Randy from here on out."   
  
"Cool beans and collard greens," Randy said as she got up from her seat. She took her plate into the kitchen and saw that Storm was already cleaning the dishes. She placed hers down and asked, "Is there anything I can do to help?"  
  
Storm cut her eyes over to Randy and said, "Not right now, I can handle this." Her face held a certain annoyed amusement. Miranda shrugged her shoulders and strolled into the hallway. She was about to go into the rec room, but decided that it was too nice of a fall day to be inside. She went outside and admired the area behind the mansion.   
  
There were trees as far as she could see and she knew that someday in the near future, she would go for a stroll in them. She loved trees. For most of her life, she had spent her life in the smoky dirty alleyways of big cities and every time she saw the mountains and trees, she wanted to be in them.   
  
Miranda strolled over to an empty bench and sprawled out on it. She looked up into the sky, staring at the patches of clouds and watching the birds fly over head. She wondered what it would be like to fly. Nothing else in the world could be more freeing. She would have to remember to ask Jean and Storm.   
  
She didn't know how long she had been outside, but the sun shone warmly down on her body and she felt the sudden need for a cat nap. Unconsciously, she had been flexing her claws alternately. She could almost feel a purr coming on. She most likely would have too, if it hadn't been for a cloud encasing the sun, not allowing her to feel it anymore.   
  
She whined in irritation and opened her eyes to see that it wasn't a cloud. It was Bobby.   
  
"May I help you?"   
  
"Not me, Mr. Logan wants to see you. He's in his room." With that, Bobby sprinted away, going back to whatever madness he and Ray were up to in the Rec room.   
  
Miranda growled and stomped inside. She swore that her and Wolverine were going to knock heads within the next week, she could feel it. The darkened exterior of the mansion took a while to adjust too and by the time she reached Logan's room, she realized that he wasn't in his room, but he was in hers. She thrust her door open and placed her hands on her hips, "Is there a reason for you to be throwing around my shit?"   
  
Logan looked over to her and replied, "Get your stuff taken care of. We just realized that this room is gonna have to be your semi-permanent residence. All the rooms in the student wings are full. Something may open up though. But for now, I want you get all your stuff put away and organized. Get rid of all these bags and get it together." He walked to the door, "By the time I come back, this all needs to be taken care of. You and I have things to talk about."  
  
Randy rolled her eyes at the receding back of the burly man. She then started to empty her things into her dresser. She placed her jewelry on top of it and took all of her makeup and hair care stuff into the bathroom. She tried to keep her stuff to a minimum corner on the bathroom counter and decided it would be best to keep her shampoo and conditioner in her room. She pulled her shoes out of the boxes and placed them by the door. Then for good measure she made her bed.  
  
She sat down and wondered what Logan could possibly want to talk about. She hoped he didn't have anything to say about her foul mouth. If that was what it was about, she was going to have a cow. She hadn't been the only one talking at lunch.   
  
A moment later, a knock came on the door. "Come in," Randy called out. She sat further up on the bed as Wolverine came in carrying a box. He tossed it to her.  
  
"That's your uniform. Starting tomorrow, you come down to the Danger Room. Lesson starts at 3:30. Don't be late and make sure to wear that."   
  
"That all?"   
  
"No, it ain't." Logan sat down on the edge of her bed. He glared over to her and continued, "You might be the newest student, but you are one of the oldest. You need to watch the mouth. You were sitting right next to Jamie. Use some common sense."   
  
Miranda looked at him indignantly, "What about Kurt? He was saying as much as I was."  
  
"And I've already talked to him. I couldn't find you. Didn't know you were taking a cat nap."  
  
"Sorry that I happen to like it outside." She crossed her arms over her chest and rolled her eyes at him. "You know what's sad Mr. Logan, we've known each other for almost 48 hours and you already piss me off."   
  
Logan smirked at her, "As long as you respect me, I don't have a problem with that. Just remember to watch it. We have to work together here and as long as you are here, you need to follow the rules like everyone else. Break them and you will be punished. End of story."  
  
Logan exited the room and Miranda was glad that he was gone. He had a good point, but she didn't want to admit it. She hated the fact that he would be considered her guardian. And she had to follow his rules. That might work out. She was kidding herself.  
  
She didn't get much longer to think about it because Kitty's head poked through her door and she smiled, "Hey, you wanna come play some volleyball. It is an all girls game, so I know that you'll be disappointed without any boys to mess around with…" she trailed off, smiling as she did so.  
  
Miranda laughed, "Well, I guess I can make do. Besides, I could get used to a bunch of cool girls like you."   
  
She spent the rest of the day playing volleyball and then turned in early, knowing that she had to go to school the next day for an entrance exam of sorts. She fell asleep that night with her window open. She didn't even hear as Logan crept into her room and shut the windows. He watched her for a moment in the light and decided that she and him were too much alike. It would be best to keep his distance from her. She would be trouble in every sense of the word.   
  
Little did he know that staying away from his newest charge would be completely out of the question. She'd already pulled him in too deep and he found himself favoring her. He hadn't even had her in class yet. Things were certainly going to get interesting around there.   
  
***  
  
The next morning, Randy was woken up by the sound of thumping feet in the hall. She knew that the students were hurrying their way to class. She hurriedly got up and dashed into the bathroom. She clicked both doors closed and took a quick hot shower. She knew that there would be no time to exercise that morning, so she didn't even try. She was sort of nervous. Being in school, after six years….wow, that was really hard to grasp onto.   
  
She got out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her figure and quickly brushed her teeth. A banging came from Logan's side. "Come on kid, I need in there. Hurry it up!"   
  
"Hold your horses!" Randy replied as she rinsed her mouth out. She scurried over to Logan's door and unlocked it. She grabbed her essentials and hurried out of the room. She closed the door behind her quickly and towel dried her hair. She then slipped into some clean clothes, deciding on a pair of khakis and a shirt that cut low on her shoulders and laced down to her wrists. She put on her makeup and all her accessories and flew out the door, heading straight for the professor's office.  
  
She ran in the room without knocking, "Sorry I'm late. I forgot to set my alarm."  
  
Charles was on the phone. He motioned for her to take a seat and continued on, "Principal Kelley, the board has already declared that mutants are still allowed to schools. You cannot bar her from coming. She just needs to take a entrance exam and then she'll be fine. Don't make this anymore difficult on yourself because you know I have friends on the board…thank you for coming around. We'll be there in twenty minutes." With that, he hung up the phone. He looked slightly agitated.   
  
"Is there something I should know about?" Randy asked.  
  
"Principal Kelley, unfortunately is anti-mutant. He doesn't wish to have anymore mutants admitted into "his school" and you just happen to be his next target. He shouldn't give you any trouble considering how well my Institute treats the school board and the funding committee. Come, let's go get you registered."  
  
Xavier led her out to his car, they were being chauffeured by Storm. She smiled warmly at them as they drove down to the school. It was at least fifteen minutes away and Miranda watched the students milling around the entrance with great intrigue. She hadn't been around this many people her own age in a long time. She swallowed slightly as Storm parked and the three of them strolled up the building.   
  
She smiled cynically as she heard the words, "freaks" "muties" and other slurs that she had heard before. She could already tell that she would be stuck to the Xavier kids like glue. As she entered the building, her eyes fell upon a group of boys staring at her with mild interest. One was bigger than beyond words and looked like he could crush the sun under his big toe. One looked like he had crawled out of the swamp, but the other two looked like they might actually cause some damage. One had silver hair that slicked back against his head and had an extremely lithe body, while the other boy was taller and broader. His dark brown hair fell in his eyes and he looked like he was about to punch holes in the concrete. Angry at the world…these guys looked like they could be neo nazis. Her eyes connected with the silver haired one and he smiled darkly at her. She held his gaze until she disappeared around the corner.   
  
The professor led her down to the office, where the test was to be administered. Miranda sat down nest to Storm in the office and looked around. The place smelled sterile. Like a hospital, but instead of antiseptic, the place reeked of paper and ink. She watched as the secretaries typed furiously on their computers, tossing her an occasional glance. Xavier had gone to get the counselor that was in charge of giving Miranda the test.  
  
"Miranda," Charles called as he reentered the room, "Follow Mr. Shaffner please. He will give you the test. I'll be here when you are done." Miranda looked back at the two adults as she followed the man down the hall. Soon they entered a small room and Miranda saw a test sitting on the table.   
  
Mr. Shaffner pointed to the test, "It's a scan-tron test. So once you're done, it'll only take us a few minutes to find out which grade you test into. Take your time and as soon as I leave, begin." Miranda took her seat and picked up the pencil. As soon the counselor left, she began to read the test. She couldn't help the smile that spread across her face as she whispered, "Cakewalk."  
  
An hour and half later, Miranda strolled out of the room, her paper in hand. She stood by the door for a second, until she saw a woman strolling down the hall. Miranda called out, "Do you know where Mr. Shaffner is? I'm done with the test."   
  
The woman looked at Miranda with great disdain, "I'll get him." She walked off muttering something about freaks invading the school. Miranda smiled ruefully at that and leaned back against the door. Mr. Shaffner appeared soon after and took her test from her.   
  
"I'll go get this graded, we should know in a few minutes. You can go sit with Charles now." with that, he took off down the hall and disappeared.   
  
Miranda smiled as she reemerged into the main office. Storm and the professor were still there. They looked up at her and Storm asked, "How did it go?"  
  
Randy held her hands up in the air and replied, "What can I say? I'm just that damn smart." She laughed and blushed because she remembered who she was talking to. Xavier and Storm gave her similar stern (but bemused) looks and she added quickly, "I'm working on that."  
  
Mr. Shaffner came strolling up with a complacent smile on his face and said, "Welcome to Bayville, Ms. Dubois. You are now a junior here."   
  
Randy glance down at Xavier. He replied to her look, 'I thought the name sounded quite nice. Don't you?'  
  
'Most definitely,' she replied, winking at him. She turned back to Mr. Shaffner and said, "Cool. When do I start?"  
  
"Well, we'll get your schedule worked out now and tomorrow will be your first day. Lets get this done shall we?"  
  
Xavier, Storm, and Randy followed him back to his office, unaware of Principal Kelley watching them with unmasked hatred as they walked into the counselor's office. He slammed his door shut, knowing that another freak had come to soil his good name.   
  
***  
  
The ride home was rather quiet. Miranda was still trying to absorb her classes; 1st- English AP rm 1203, 2nd- Chemistry rm 1041, 3rd- Music Appreciation rm 982, 4th-World History rm 1475, 5th-Choir rm 1456, LUNCH, 6th-Trigonometry rm 1023, and 7th-German rm 1293. She had a full schedule. Storm said that she would be happy to take Randy to shop for school stuff and they would go as soon as they dropped off the professor.   
  
"I want you to know how proud I am of you. You did so well today, Miranda." Xavier stated, smiling warmly at her from the front seat.   
  
Miranda smiled at him, "Thanks Prof. Looks like I've got my work cut out for me. It might be nice." They arrived at the mansion and dropped the professor off and they were off for school supplies.  
  
***  
  
Logan stalked back and forth across the danger room floor. It was 3:25 and the kids were suited up and ready to go. Except for Miranda. She had not yet arrived. He could already tell that she wasn't the one for being on time. He growled and turned to Jean, "Red, have you seen Randy?"   
  
"Um, I think she was going to her room to get her uniform the last time I saw her. That was about 15 minutes ago." Jean replied.  
  
"Someone go see if she's in the locker room," Logan barked. Kitty went running off to the locker room, phasing through the wall. A moment later, she came back out with a smile on her face, "She's coming."  
  
"What's so funny, half pint?"   
  
Kitty giggled, "Miranda."  
  
The doors opened and a surly looking Miranda walked out in uniform. Unlike the newer recruits, they had decided to give her a unique uniform like the first six. She had been issued a black uniform (skintight, to her chagrin) with a blue X encasing her body. She pulled at him despairingly and shook her head as she ran over towards Kurt. He gave her the once over and as he opened his mouth, she flexed her claws in his face.  
  
"If you are about to say what I think you're gonna say, don't. I might just use you as a scratching post."   
  
Kurt smiled innocently, "What? You surely can't be thinking of what I'm going to say."  
  
"What were you gonna say?" Miranda asked, her clawed hands now resting on her hips.  
  
"That outfit looks really nice," Kurt looked over to the guys standing off to his left and smiled mischievously, "But they'd look better balled up on my bedroom floor."   
  
This set off a bunch of cat calls from the guys and Kurt quickly BAMFED is way over to them, avoiding some nasty looking claws. Miranda could feel her face start to burn, but covered it quickly with a reply, "Kurt, you wanna wash my laundry, that's fine by me. Cause that's the only way that my clothes would EVER be balled up on the floor in your room."   
  
Kurt feigned hurt, "Ouch. That was a low blow, try to keep the gloves up."   
  
"Knock it off!" Wolverine barked, "Time to work." With that, the entire group silenced and Wolverine pulled his mask into place as he called out plainly, "Run Sim 9.5 Tribeca."   
  
Rogue whispered over to Randy, "Good luck. And don't worry, nothing usually gets broken."  
  
"What?" Randy asked, but the fun had already begun. She was only dumbstruck for a moment before deciding that her best defense would be turning into the cat. She quickly morphed into the massive feline and managed to dodge more things than the others could. She would occasionally grab someone lightly by their collar and pull them to her feet.  
  
"Watch it Tiger!" Scott called out to her. Randy turned her feline eyes around to see a spiked projectile coming at her. She let out a yowl as she vertically jumped in the air. In mid air, she morphed out of her cat form and came down crashing hard on the ground.   
  
Jean was at her side a second later, "Get up, no one gets left behind."   
  
Miranda's mind was racing, wondering if she had left someone behind. She hadn't been thinking of others, as much as she had been thinking for herself. She let her eyes search the chaotic room wildly to fall upon Rahne and Sam stuck in a corner, three large projectiles hurtling at them at an alarming rate. She thrust her hand forward and a popping, sizzling dome of yellowish electricity formed over them. The projectiles hit it and fried as the ricocheted off and hit the ground. The shield diminished and Randy called out, "Come on. Let's go!"   
  
She made sure they were running before she took off again. She took a hit in the shoulder from something, but she didn't look to see the damage. With searing pain emitting from there, she saw another object hurtling for her, she threw herself to the ground as it went over her head and she looked up to see that it was headed straight for Bobby, but he didn't see it coming. "Shit!" She called out, "Scott! Zap me!"  
  
Scott turned his head in her direction, he was trying to get Evan to his feet and shot a beam in her direction in a quick recession as he continued to blast objects so Evan could get up. The beam entered Miranda's right hand and she focused it out her left. She grimaced with the aim was a little off and missed the projectile. But it did get Bobby out of harm's way…he had to roll onto the ground to miss the beam headed for him. The projectile slammed into wall as Bobby rolled back onto his feet.   
  
Randy realized that they were the two bringing up the rear, she ran over to him and he glared at her, "With friends like you, I sure as shit don't need enemies."  
  
"Gotcha out of the way though didn't it?" She said as she dodged a steel whip. Bobby didn't reply and the two of them continued to run.   
  
The simulation ended thirty minutes later and Randy felt a pleasant burn through her entire body. She also was covered in a thin sheen of sweat and blood. Thank god for healing abilities. She rubbed her arm where she had gotten hit and was happy to see that it was almost done healing. She looked around to see that the rest of the kids were sporting similar abrasions and she wondered if it would be like this all the time.   
  
Wolverine had been droning along about improvements that needed to be made. Miranda had been zoning him out and did a good job of it until he appeared in front of her. She focused on him and waited.   
  
"And you, Trashmouth," he began, "you need to make sure that you get everyone up and on their feet. You ran past three people before you even decided to help them out. Wolfsbane and Canonball could have been real hurt if you would have reacted a second later. Keep those green eyes of yours focused on your team, not yourself. And another thing, unless you can get control of it, keep that ricochet ability to yourself. You could have taken Icecube's air head right off." He began to walk away and Randy made her opinion known.  
  
"How the hell am I supposed to get it under control if I don't use it?" All eyes fell on Randy as Wolverine stopped in his tracks and growled at her.   
  
He appeared in her face again, this time, only inches away from her face, "Trashmouth, when you're done in the locker room, come see me back in here. You are all dismissed!"  
  
Randy rolled her eyes and went into the locker room. She slowly pulled off her uniform and toweled off. She would take a shower in her room. She pulled on her jeans and felt the endorphins start to wear off. She felt like she had been run through a blender. As she brushed her hair up into a ponytail, Kitty walked out of the shower with a towel wrapped around her.   
  
"Oh man, I totally don't wish to be you right now."  
  
"Yeah, I'll pray for you," Jubilee said as she pulled up her jeans.   
  
"Knock it off you guys," Jean called out as she dried her hair with a towel.   
  
Miranda turned to go, "One thing before I go into see Lucifer..I mean, Mr. Logan. Who the hell is Wolfsbane and Canonball? What kind of secret code is that?"  
  
"Well," Jean began, "Everyone here has a code name. That way, if people ever find out about us, they will have a harder time tracking us down. That's why Ororo is called Storm, Mr. Logan is called Wolverine, and Scott is called Cyclops. Everyone hear has one. It's based on your gifts."  
  
"What's yours?"  
  
Jean blinked at her a couple of times, "I actually don't have one."  
  
"You need to think of one Miranda," Amara said.  
  
Miranda nodded, "If I get one, it's not gonna be something lame like Tiger or Spark. I'll think about it." She then walked back out into the danger room to see that Logan was standing with Storm and the professor.  
  
Logan called out gruffly, "You wanna learn control. After our sessions, you'll be in here another hour working with Charles and Ro. They'll teach you control. When you got it, those little powers of yours will welcomed in my class. Until then, expect to get ripped a new one every time you mess up. Your lessons start now." With that, Wolverine walked away and Miranda worked with Xavier and Storm for another hour.   
  
By the time she was done. Miranda was thoroughly tired and all she wanted to do was sleep. She got a quick bite to eat and then rec room. She made herself comfy on the couch and paid little attention to the people around her. She joined in on some of the conversations, but was really just enjoying the sound of the others talk. By the time 9:30 rolled around, she was ready to call it a night. She got up and walked to her room. With half opened lids, she stumbled into her room, not even closing the door and changed hastily into her pajamas. She snaked underneath her covers and drifted off into a blissful sleep.   
  
Tomorrow was another day. 


End file.
